Smart Manufacturing Blog

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Supply Chain Management

Plex Manufacturing Blog

5 Areas Every Supply Chain Leader Should Focus on to Sustain Competitiveness

Hemant Makhija April 17, 2018

As a supply chain leader, you must have a broad understanding of how your entire business flows from sales to procurement to engineering to service. You also need access to a reliable and holistic set of data or you’ll feel more like you’re fighting fires instead of delivering on customer demand. ...

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Manufacturers: How Connected is Your Supply Chain Planning?

Hemant Makhija January 29, 2018

Unless you have supernatural abilities, you’re like most humans who can’t accurately predict the future. But as a manufacturer—you need an effective way to “see” into future customer demand so you can allocate the right amount of inventory, optimize production, and keep customers happy....

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Common Manufacturing Supply Chain Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Hemant Makhija September 20, 2017

The goals of supply chain management and execution is to create a positive customer experience and achieve operational excellence. All too often, execution falls short either because of unanticipated changes or not enough visibility. ...

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The 3 Pillars of Effective Sales and Operations Plans

Plex Team June 5, 2017

The three pillars of effective sales and operations plans affect nearly everything you do, including promotions, pricing, inventory management, and supplier. ...

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How Champion Plastics Uses EDI Integration to Stay Ahead in the Manufacturing Industry

Stu Johnson April 4, 2017

In today’s fast-paced world, manufacturers like Champion Plastics need speed and agility to quickly respond to constant market changes. Champion Plastics, a custom injection molding manufacturer of functional plastics for the automotive industry, was looking to change its Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system to meet the needs of a large customer....

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7 Best Practices for More Accurate Inventory Tracking and Reporting

Stu Johnson January 26, 2017

Inventory traceability and tracking is all about creating a paper trail of inventory that reflects physical reality. Many companies manually record inventory basics like shipping receipts for raw materials, warehousing, issues from stock to production, and shipments of finished goods to customers. ...

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Are Product Reviews part of your S&OP Process?

Plex Team July 27, 2015

Do you review your product portfolio on a regular basis? Assess profitability or potential profit-loss, demand behaviors, life-cycle management and more here....

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Technology and Growth: Which Is the Chicken and Which Is the Egg?

Jim Shepherd May 10, 2013

American manufacturing is definitely bouncing back. This year’s growth is expected to exceed both 2012 rates and GDP increases. There’s no question that things are looking up. There’s also no doubt that manufacturers are exploring new tools to manage growth, including advanced technologies....

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How to Win a Food Fight With the Competition: OEE & Automation

Plex Team

While there are countless factors that impact your operations, one of the most critical is time. There are only so many hours in the day – time ultimately limits what your operations achieve from quarter to quarter and year over year. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is the key metric that measures the efficiency of your manufacturing process. Here’s what you should know about factors…

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How to Win a Food Fight with the Competition: Digitizing Connections Between the Top Floor and the Plant Floor

Plex Team

When it comes to the competitive food and beverage landscape, the strongest hand always wins. Your team should do everything it can to stack the deck in its favor and go for the royal flush. This means not just collecting the highest value cards, but having them all in the same suit as well.You need to know that your operations are aligned at every level from the top floor to the plant floor –…

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